CPNoVa Meeting (Virtual)

CPNV Membership Meeting Presentation
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
6:00 PM – 7 :30 PM
Additional Q&A from 7:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Please RSVP here.

Parenting Plan – Part Two
The Parenting Plan from a Mental Health Perspective

Presented by Karen S. Bonnell, MS
Moderated by Patrice Garver, PhD

As a follow-up from our very informative presentation in January – looking at the parenting plan from a legal perspective – we are now addressing the parenting plan from the mental health perspective. Karen Bonnell, a mental health professional (retired) with over 40 years of experience working with families as a therapist, divorce/co-parenting coach, mediator and author of multitude of books addressing co-parenting topics and parenting plans, will provide a knowledgeable mental health view regarding the conceptual focus of implementing a parenting plan. She will expand on her mindset looking at the parenting plan through a family systems lens and also address language that has set boundaries that create clarity and hopefully deter significant future problems as co-parents in two homes.

Presently, Karen helps parents prepare their children for two-home family life and helps them to co-parent strong, while assisting them with how to successfully introduce their children to the new structuring of their family life. She helps in presenting best practices as they navigate their co-parenting relationship.

In addition to sharing the foundation of how she sees the conceptual structure and the focus of parenting plans, Karen will also address the specific tricky areas that we all experience when working with families and writing a parenting plan.  Karen will address the following issues:

• Romantic partners
• Communication with the children on non-custodial time
• How to handle electronics/use of a phone
• Right of first refusal concerns
• Parental time and schedules specifically addressing the developmental age of the children

Karen will save some time for Q&A and has generously offered to stay an extra half hour for those of you who choose to stay, to address additional questions.

Karen S Bonnell is the author of “The Co-Parenting Handbook: Raising Well-Adjusted and Resilient Kids from Little Ones to Young Adults through Divorce or Separation” with Kristin Little, LMHC (published July 2014, CMC Publishers, and second edition June 2017 Random House). “The Parenting Plan Workbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Building a Strong, Child-Centered Parenting Plan” with Felicia Malsby Soleil, JD published 2017 Random House with companion video series on YouTube. And, “The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating to Getting Serious and Forming a ‘Blended Family'” with Patricia Papernow, EdD, CMC publishing 2018.

Learn more about Karen’s work on her website: Karen S Bonnell.